401k's - What the hell?

My wife & I both work for big, bureaucratic, "safe" companies who look after us by giving us all these WONDERFUL choices for our 401k's.

What a bunch of horse *%$)#&*!

These bastards give us basically no choice regarding where we put our investments. I look at my wife's choices, and here they are summarized:
- Company stock
- A few permutations of domestic stocks (but no choice of industry sectors)
- Domestic bonds (none that are protected against inflation)
- A mix thereof
- One stinking international stock fund (which happens to also be one of my 15 choices)

That's it. Why is this important? Because when peak oil hits, all of the above are going straight into the toilet, leaving what's generally one's largest net-value investment all but worthless.

What's their problem? My guess is that the people who make these decisions get indirectly paid by these funds to include them in their vast portfolio (of a whopping 13 different choices). Politicians know about it but get paid by the mutual fund companys' lobbyists, and figure the public is too stupid to realize it, so they say, "screw it - I'll take the money (from the lobbyists) and run."

This is our futures they're messing with! It's terrible. Why in the HELL can't we have more choices - or better yet, a self-directed 401k? It's because the employers and politicians don't give a *!#$#%&! about you or I. They'll make up some lie about why it's not feasible, but in reality they just don't give a damn about us.

I'm writing a congressman about this, although I doubt I'll find one that's worth a crap. We should all insist on being allowed to roll over our 401ks into personal IRAs without having to quit our jobs. It's absurd.

In terms of preparing for peak oil, let's say you have a sizable 401k with a very limited selection - what should you do? Here are my thoughts:
- Consider leaving your company to allow you to roll it over into an IRA so it can be self-directed. Perhaps you can arrange to get re-hired at the same level you are at. This may seem like a big risk, but actually the big risk is keeping it in the crappy domestic stocks they force you in.
- Ask your HR to do a special rollover just for you. I doubt it'll work, but if it does let me know.

Once you've rolled it over:
- Consider avoiding investments in:
regular domestic stocks
regular domestic bonds
cash or money market accounts
foreign investments that are extremely dependent upon the dollar
- Consider moving into investments such as:
energy companies, both oil/gas et al and alternative energy
oil service & equipment companies
unhedged foreign bond funds that aren't as dependent upon the dollar
TIPS mutual funds (inflation protected bonds)
gold, precious metals, natural resources